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Friday, May 1, 2015

DNA Info: City Needs More Than Listening Tour To Ease Tensions With Police

Mark Konkol took quotes from 9th Ward Alderman Anthony Beale as he celebrated the opening of the Methods plant in the Pullman neighborhood:

But after the final laudatory speeches, the historic factory opening
took a back seat to questions about what the mayor’s administration has
planned to combat the fractured relationship between the Police
Department and poor black neighborhoods — particularly in light of the
violent rioting in Baltimore over the death of Freddie Gray that many
people view as yet another manifestation of the strained relationship
between police and poor black people in America.
...
Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) has concerns, too.

“I don’t know how you start a listening tour four years after you’ve been here. That should have been what you did first,” Beale said at the Method factory opening.

“And I don’t know how you can say you’re listening when you don’t return phone calls. I’ve called [McCarthy], and he has not returned my phone calls. So how are you going to listen to what’s happening on the ground in my community? I know what’s going on in my community, and I can articulate that to him. It’s up to him to help me in this community to make sure my community is a safer place. But he wouldn’t know that if he doesn’t listen.”

So what the Alderman is talking about is a listening tour from police superintendent Garry McCarthy. Here's hoping there are community organizations such as the GCA who want to have McCarthy appear in front of their members.

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